The
Gaspee Days Committee at www.gaspee.COM
is a civic-minded nonprofit organization that operates many community
events
in and around Pawtuxet Village, including the famous Gaspee Days Parade
each June. These events are all designed to commemorate the 1772 burning of
the hated British revenue schooner, HMS Gaspee, by Rhode Island
patriots as America's 'First Blow for Freedom' TM.
Our
historical research center, the Gaspee Virtual Archives at www.gaspee.ORG
, has presented these research notes as an attempt to gather further
information
on one who has been suspected of being associated with the the burning
of the Gaspee. Please e-mail your comments or further questions
to webmaster@gaspee.org.

Evidence implicating Dr.
Henry Sterling:The
following is
taken from an unsigned draft statement by Dr.
John Mawney, which was later published with editorial revisions
(possibly by his friend, Senator Theodore
Foster) by the American and
Gazette in 1826. The handwritten
statement was found in
the Gaspee Papers at the Rhode Island Historical Society, MSS434
p149. The
published version can be seen in excerpted form in Staples,
Documentary History of the Destruction of the Gaspee, p. 15.
referring to John Mawney's successful operation aboard the Gaspee to remove the musket ball
from the groin of Lt. Dudingston:

During
the
operation, I was several times
called upon at the door, but was not ready. When the door was opened,
many rushed in, and attacked the bottles. I having boots on, stamped on
them, and requested others to assist, which was readily done. During
this, Mr. Dudingston was carried out of the room, and I never saw him
after, notwithstanding I had several invitations, through Dr. Henry
Sterling.

Dr. Sterling apparently looked in on the wounded
Lieutenant over
several days while Dudingston recuperated in the Pawtuxet home of
Joseph Rhodes. In either event, Dr. Mawney was wise to have
declined the invitation
of one Dr. Henry Sterling to visit with the
recovering
Lt. Dudingston. Had Dudingston recognized him, Mawney might have
been hung as a traitor to the Crown.

Biographical and Genealogical
Notes:
Dr. Henry Sterling was born in Londonderry, (now Northern) Ireland
c1726 and immigrated as a youth to the American colonies, residing in Providence,
Rhode Island since 1756. He was a well known physician in the
Providence area during
the years prior to the Revolution. He is listed in the 1770 List of
Providence Taxpayers as owning a house in III B 5, which locates it
pretty much across the street from Gaspee raid leaders John and Joseph
Brown. It would be interesting to know if Dr. Sterling knew
that the son of fellow physician Dr. Ephraim Bowen, Ephraim Bowen, Jr,.
helped the trigger man that shot Lt. Dudingston. Curiously, the
trail of Dr. Sterling in Providence stops with the Gaspee event. He is
not mentioned in any of the 19th century Rhode Island history books
we've been able to consult, and these texts (Bayles, Richard M. ed. History of
Providence
County, Vol I & II. W.W. Preston & Co., NY.
1891; and Field, Edward, State of
Rhode
Island and Providence Plantations at the End of the Century: A
History. Boston, Mason Publishing Co. 1902.) usually gave long biographies of even the most
obscure physician

Dr. Henry
Sterling's wife was Patience (Tew) Sterling (c1736-1801). The
known
children of Henry and Patience were:

STERLING,
Charlotte
(c1764-1794) died in Providence

STERLING, Dr.
Henry P.
Jr (c1765-1800) He was married in 1791 to Christian
LITTLE
of
Bridgewater, MA

STERLING, Henrietta
S.,
married in 1790 Capt. Samuel ALLEN. She died in 1821

Dr. Henry Sterling
was a
physician, and a native of a
town in and around Londonderry, Ireland. He settled in Providence,
Rhode Island in 1756.

Henry was a staunch
supporter of the American Revolution and aided the patriot cause with
his advice and professional services. He was called on 10 Jun 1772 to
the British armed ship Gaspee to attend the wounded commander of the
vessel after it was destroyed by patriots from Providence. Dr Henry
Sterling married Patience Tew 29 Oct. 1758 in Providence, RI. Patience
Tew's maternal grandfather was [RI Governor] Benedict Arnold the
grandfather of THE [OTHER]
Benedict Arnold that committed treason against the colonies. Patience
has an illustrious ancestry featuring families like Throckmorton,
Blennerhasset and Cornwallis.

The town of
Sterling in Windham County, Connecticut, originally called Voluntown,
was named after Dr. Sterling in May 1794, when he was a temporary
resident there. He promised to give the town a library in return for
the honor, but it appears that he failed to do so.

From
Vital
Record of Rhode
Island, 1636-1850, available through the NEHGS, the author James N. Arnold
contends that the town of Sterling, CT was actually named after Gen.
Sterling of
the Revolution. A 1774 ad for an insurance company in Providence stated that
it was located next to the house of Doctor Henry Sterling on Water
Street. In 1803 he advertised his house to let, and that the house was
currently occupied by Cyprian Sterry, (a well-known captain of
slave-trading ships, and whose son married the daughter of Nicholas Cooke).

While
Dr.
Henry Sterling probably did
not actually participate in the attack on the Gaspee, he did not tell authorities
what he must have known about those involved. We therefore indict
him for
aiding these fugitives against King George III.